


The adventures of the Artist

by SunshineShal13



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Aliens, Art, Friendship, Gen, Original Characters - Freeform, time lady - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-10
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-16 01:27:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29323956
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SunshineShal13/pseuds/SunshineShal13
Summary: Abbey Strada isn't like a regular human. Actually, she's not even human. She's a Time Lady. Hiding her true identity, she works as an art teacher at a local high school while also occasionally saving the inhabitants of the Midwestern town where she lives. These are her adventures living on earth.
Kudos: 1





	The adventures of the Artist

How many fanfics can one person start without finishing another one? Many it turns out. This one is blamed by coming to me while I was sleeping and I really had to get it down. And it’s something new. Also, I apologize for the many paragraphs. The next chapter will have more dialogue.

The sky was just lightening as Abbey Strada walked from her house to her car. Balancing her thermos of hot, peppermint tea on the roof, she opened the car door and slid in to the driver’s side. What no one would every realize about that thermos of tea was that it would stay hot for an inordinate amount of time. Specifically because Abbey had designed it that way. She’d built this thermos from a metal that was designed to keep a beverage hot for several days.

She had mid-length, auburn hair that she normally kept in a headband, and blue-grey eyes with flecks of gold around the irises behind teal glasses with a slight cat eye. Clothing choices aside, which tended to be a little bit more artsy than regular clothing trends, she looked normal enough. You’d probably pass her on the street with maybe just a glance at her clothing, but that’s it. You’d never guess that she actually wasn’t human.

Abbey was actually a Time Lady called the Artist on a planet called Gallifrey. Her name was chosen for obvious reasons. Her fondness and appreciation for art. For many centuries, that was her home. However, she was forced to flee in her own TARDIS by her family and friends when the Time War broke out between her species and the Daleks. 

Abbey had ended up in a city in the Midwest in the 21st century. The TARDIS had turned itself into a house, so she didn’t have to worry about finding one. She hadn’t traveled much since then, except for the occasional trips to the past, so she could fabricate a backstory, just in case anyone ever asked her where she came from.

Due to her love of art, she was able to get a job as an art teacher at a local high school and had been there for several years, despite the fact that she still looked 30. She figured that at some point she’d have to leave. Eventually someone would start to realize she wasn’t exactly aging, due to the fact that she hadn’t had to regenerate in a while, and try to dig up something on her, but for right now she was content. She’d grown to love the customs of humans, and while there were many flaws, they tried their hardest.

She’d taken the same approach to humans as her best friend back on Gallifrey, the Doctor, had. Her hearts still ached as she thought of the times after they’d finished their studies at the academy when they would go and run through the red grass that often rippled. 

The last few days of the Time War, she had been unable to find him and wasn’t able to say goodbye to him. That hurt her most of all. She tried to bury those emotions, but they were always at the back of her mind. Part of her still hoped that he was alive, but she’d felt it when her planet was destroyed, so she was certain he hadn’t made it. 

She had been able to make friends with some of the locals and even some of the teachers, but no one knew her secret, except for one of her neighbors, Ellie and that was by complete accident. Even though the TARDIS had been able to appear as a house on the outside due to the chameleon circuit, she had to rig a perception filter on the inside so that if anyone did have to come inside, it would appear as an actual house and not a control center. It had been going well, until one day when she made a huge miscalculation.

It was early morning, and Abbey had to do some repairs underneath the console. Since it was a Saturday morning, and she knew that humans normally slept in, she’d decided to leave the door to the TARDIS open. She enjoyed the morning air. What she didn’t count on was Ellie taking a morning walk and coming to visit her, therefore not having enough time to turn on filter.

“Hey Abbey! I hope you don’t mind me stopping by. I saw your door open and wanted to check if you- “WHAT THE HECK?!”

At that point, Abbey had quickly come out from underneath the console only to see a shocked Ellie standing there.

“Oh, Hi, Ellie.” Abbey said brightly, wondering how she was going to explain this one. “You’re probably wondering what this is.”

“Wh-uh, what?” Ellie stammered. “Who are you?”

Abbey had sighed. She really couldn’t blame her. The poor woman probably hadn’t seen anything like it. and It really was Abbey’s fault for letting down her guard and leaving the door open. So, with that she closed the door.

“Ok, I might not have been exactly honest with you. I’m not exactly who you think I am.” She said, sighing again. She knew that eventually she’d have to tell someone that she wasn’t exactly human.

“Well clearly not, given what I’m seeing.” Ellie said, trying to compose herself. “So you’re not an art teacher from a small town in Montana, are you?” She’d asked.

“Well, I did become an art teacher, but no. I’m not from a small town in Montana. I’m actually, well, uh, not from earth.” She finished, waiting for Ellie’s reaction.

“So then you’re-” Ellie started

“An, alien, yes.” Abbey finished her statement for her.  
“Wow.” Ellie said. “So, I’m just going to guess that you’re not from mars.”

Abbey laughed. “No.” She said. “Not from Mars. I’m a Time Lady. From a planet called Gallifrey. Or at least I was.” She said that last part quietly.

Ellie must have caught the last part, because she looked at Abbey with concern in her eyes. Suddenly, Abbey found herself telling Ellie everything. How she was actually called the Artist. How her people have been facing a race called the Daleks. How she’d been forced to flee her planet and landed here. At the end of her story, she’d looked up, eyes filled with tears, only to have Ellie hug her. She was slightly surprised by that, but she accepted that hug.

“I’m not going to lie that this hasn’t been a big shock for me, but now I know why you’ve been secrective and kind of kept to yourself. and I promise that no one else will know.” Ellie said, after they’d ended their embrace.

“That means everything to me. Who knows what would happen if someone else had found out that I was an alien living among humans. They’d most likely want to dissect me or even worse.” Abbey said.

“Your secret’s safe with me.” Ellie promised.

Ever since then, Ellie had kept her promise and Abbey knew that she now didn’t have to put the perception filter on when Ellie came over. Plus, it did feel good telling someone who she actually was. 

Present

Abbey started her car and drove to the high school that she was the art teacher at. Driving a car had been odd at first, but she’d been able to pick it up fairly quickly. She assumed it was because she had actually passed her test to fly a TARDIS. A fact that she used to bring up to the Doctor, who had flunked his a few times. Driving a car was much easier to drive than flying a TARDIS. 

After she’d parked and gotten out of the car, she shivered. She could feel something coming, and even though she didn’t exactly know what it was, it wasn’t good. Whatever it was, she had to find out and stop it. She’d been lucky enough to stop a few attacks on the town that she’d grown to love and this time was no exception. Her kind was always meant to observe and not meddle in affairs, but she’d never believed in that. She’d made a private vow to save anyone she could find who was in trouble.

Walking into the school, she also sensed something else. Actually, more like she sensed someone else. It almost felt like a familiar friendly feeling, but she couldn’t place it. Shaking it off, she started to walk towards the principal, Mr. Alcorn, who was talking to someone. She couldn’t help but notice that the feeling got stronger as she got closer to them.

“Ah, Miss. Strada. There you are.” Mr. Alcorn said in a cheerful voice as she walked towards them. “I wanted to introduce you to a new teacher who’ll be taking over Mrs. Ellcott’s class while she’s away.”

“I wasn’t aware she’d decided to leave.” Abbey said curiously.”

“Someone left a winning ticket for a cruise in her mail, so she called and said she was leaving for a few weeks. Really don’t blame her.” Mr. Alcorn said. “Anyways, this is John Smith. He’ll be taking over for a while. John, This is Abbey. She teaches the art classes.”

The stranger turned to face her and Abbey got a good look at him for the very first time. He had brown, slightly spiky hair, brown eyes, and was wearing a brown pinstriped suit with slightly dirty beige converse sneakers under a beige trench coat. The feeling got so strong when she looked into his eyes, that she almost had to take a breath. The stranger seemed to feel the same way, as she saw his eyes widen before composing himself.

“It’s nice to meet you, uh, Mr. Smith.” Abbey said, trying to calm her beating hearts, although she had a sneaking feeling that he could hear them. “I hate to run, but I have to get to my class. If you’ll excuse me.” She said, politely excusing herself.

She managed to get to her classroom, where she had to hold onto a wall and collect herself. It couldn’t be the person she thought it was. She’d felt it. She’d felt when everything and everyone had been destroyed. No one else was alive. But yet, she’d had that feeling. 

“No, it can’t be him. Everyone else has gone. Why would he be any different?” She muttered to herself. She’d been so lost in her thoughts that she hadn’t realized her first period painting class had come in.

“Uh, Miss. Strada. Is everything ok?” One of her students asked her, breaking out of her thoughts. She looked up to see the entire class staring at her. “Ah, sorry about that. Just getting the creative process going there.” She fibbed. “Anyways, I want you to continue on your assignments.”  
The majority of the students got to work, as someone turned on the radio. They continued to chat as they painted. However, she couldn’t shake the foreboding feeling she had, especially when she noticed some of her students almost zoned out. If she were human, she’d most likely chalk it to normal behavior or even drugs. But since she was not human, she knew that that wasn’t the case. When she had gotten close to one of the students, she could almost sense that some of the energy had been drained from her. The poor girl barely acknowledged Abbey’s presence. Something had to be done.

At the end of the class, everyone packed their things up and headed for the door to their other classes. Everyone except one girl, Danielle, who hung back. She slowly walked towards Abbey’s desk. 

“Um, Miss Strada, Can I talk to you?” She asked hesitantly. 

“Of course you can.” Abbey said, noticing the girl’s tired eyes that looked like they were filled with unshed tears. “Do you need me to write you a pass for your next class?” She asked.

Danielle shook her head. “I have a free period, which is why I wanted to talk to you right now.” She said softly “That is, if you can spare a minute.”

“I always have time for my students.” Abbey said, wondering if this was going to be about what was going on. “Now, tell me what’s going on?” She asked seriously.


End file.
